Pokemon: Road to Victory Volume 1
by Shareef
Summary: a young boy finds a unique Pokemon egg and begins on a path that may lead him to glory or may leave him crushed under the thumb of the new ruthless team Rocket leader.
1. Chapter 1

**1**

I remember the day well because it was the day my world changed. I had just received my first Pokémon from my father. It was a level 5 Dratini. I named him Drago. I was so excited to have Drago and he seemed extremely excited to be with me as well. I was out in the front yard of our house in Pewter city Training Drago when I saw a man in an all black outfit running.

He was carrying a black cloth bag under his arm; the bag had something hanging out of the back of it. The man jumped the fence into our yard and what looked like an egg fell out of the bag he was carrying. He didn't seem to notice because he didn't stop or even look back at it. Once he was too far away to see me I went over and picked up what he dropped. It was definitely a Pokémon egg, a dark blue egg with orange spots on it.

At first I was going to show it to my father, but then I thought he would take it from me. I wanted to at least get to see what kind of Pokémon it was. I decided to raise it at least until it was born then I would tell my father how I got it, maybe if it was already born he wouldn't take it from me. I took it into our basement and wrapped it in a blanket and placed it inside of an old shoe box.

I spent time everyday over the next 3 weeks sitting in the basement with the egg, talking to it and rubbing it. I was really beginning to feel close to the egg. On the fourth Monday that I visited the egg I noticed a tiny crack in it. I sat three extra hours in my basement with the egg that day as it hatched. I even had a basin of warm water and some towels ready in case it was all yucky when it was done.

I believe it was after midnight when the top of the egg finally cracked completely off and my new Pokémon finally became a member of the world. The face and body resembled a Charmander. It actually was exactly the face and body of a Charmander, the only issue was that my new Charmander was jet black instead of Orange. Every part of its tiny body, including the flame on its tail, was black.

I was confused for sure, but I had never witnessed a Pokémon Hatch before so I didn't jump to any conclusions. I knew my father had grown up raising Pokémon from birth so I asked him the next night at dinner.

"Hey dad, what colors are Charmander when they hatch?"

My father looked confused, like I was asking him a trick question but he answered.

"Well son I believe Charmander are always the same color which is Orange, why?"

His answer made me nervous so I said "Dad I have to show you something, I'll be right back."

I went into the basement and picked up my Black Charmander and carried him upstairs. He was sleeping before I picked him up when I touched him he was surprised awake but once he saw me he calmed down. He rested his head on my shoulder as I carried him up the steps.

When I brought him into the dining room my father almost jumped over his chair.

"What in the world is that" he asked staring at me in disbelief.

"I think it's a Charmander" I said not really sure anymore.

"Where did you find that, where's the Dratini I gave you?"

"It's in my pocket, and a weird man dropped this in our yard last month so I hatched it."

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner, is it dangerous?"

"I didn't tell you because I wanted to see what was inside the egg and I knew if I told you before it was born you would take it and I wouldn't get to see it hatch.

My father proceeded to scold me about keeping secrets, then he inspected my Charmander to see if he could find out why it was the wrong color. After about an hour he finally gave up.

"Son this appears to be an average Charmander, well ya know other than the whole jet black thing"

"Are you going to take him from me?"

"No he has already bonded with you taking him now could be detrimental to his development, but I want you to keep me filled in while he grows and if anything strange happens we are taking him to Professor Oak."

"I agreed and gave my father the biggest, tightest hug I could."

"Thanks dad, I've really gotten close to this little guy" I said picking my Charmander up.

"I can tell, so what name did you give him?"

"I was thinking about calling him Scorch."

"Scorch huh, that sounds tough, you think you're a real trainer now don't you?"

"Well yea, I do have two Pokémon"

"Just always remember that training Pokémon is about more than strength, it's about the bond you share with your Pokémon. If you treat them right they will never let you down."

"Yes sir."

I went to bed that night with Scorch and Drago out of their balls. I wanted to become as close to my Pokémon as I possibly could. I talked to them until I fell asleep. That night I dreamed of becoming the world's best trainer with my two new friends leading me to my victory in the Pokémon league. I woke up the next morning with a newfound determination to train my Pokémon to become as great as I knew they could. Together we would teach the world the true meaning of power and friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

I dedicated all of my time after my dream to learning all that I possibly could about my Pokémon. I went to the library and took out books, I watched documentaries, and I even went to a few museums. I absorbed all I could as fast as I could. When I wasn't learning about my Pokémon I was training them.

Drago was level 11 and had learned the move twister. He was developing just the way the books said he should. He was my highest leveled Pokémon but not my strongest. Scorch was a level 8 and had learned the move flamethrower. This went against everything I had read so far.

Drago was more powerful than any Pokémon I had encountered before in my life. His attacks always caused the other Pokémon to faint no matter how many levels higher than him they were. I didn't even use his flamethrower. I used it once and the poor Pidgey was burned to ashes. That bothered me entirely too much to ever try it again. I didn't even know a Pokémon's attack could kill another Pokémon.

Another thing about Scorch was that even the fire he used for his attacks was black. I felt like he was too unique to train when other people might see us easily. I decided to only train him at night. I didn't even tell my Best friend Michelle about him.

Michelle wanted to be a top trainer too one day. She had a Pikachu that her brother had caught in the Viridian Forest. She said he gave it to her as a present on her birthday. She named her Volt. I liked the name and when I got Drago I told her that we could become Champions together. We trained together a lot but I could only use Drago when we sparred. Since Volt was level 15 Drago really wasn't much of a match for him. I knew Scorch could handle him though.

One day at the end of spring Michelle mentioned that she had to leave within the next week to go and get her first badge because her brother had informed her that if Volt passed level 20 she would start disobeying her. I was excited for her and planned to leave on my own once I felt like I was ready to be on my own. I was forced to be ready whether I liked it or not.

It was 3 days later; Michelle was planning to leave that next day to go collecting more Pokémon to train and help her win Badges. We lived in the town with the easiest Gym leader but Michelle said she didn't stand a chance against him.

"Brock may have low leveled Pokémon but they are rock types."

"Yeah so what" I said.

"What are rock types unaffected by?"

"Oh yeah, electric duh" I said embarrassed.

Her plan was to go to Cerulean City and catch a Magikarp, then raise it until it evolved into a gyarados, then bring it back here and Beat Brock with it. I wished her a safe trip and we had a farewell duel, which she won of course. Then we were sitting on my back porch talking about our dreams of greatness when we heard a bunch of people screaming.

We ran around the corner and saw a large crowd surrounding a group of people in black uniforms. The same uniform the man that dropped Scorch's egg had on. One of them had a megaphone.

"Dear people of Pewter Town we are Team Rocket and we have some missing merchandise here. It was dropped almost two months ago by one of our members. It was a black Pokémon egg with orange spots on it. By now it is probably a Pokemon. It may look like this one."

A man standing next to him released what looked like a black Charizard.

"If you found this Egg please return the Pokemon to us. Once we have the Pokemon we will leave your town peacefully. If we do not have it by tomorrow night we will begin going door to door checking homes, and every wrong house we go to will be burned to the ground along with everyone who lived in it. Also anyone who attempts to flee the city will be burned alive. Thank you that is all."

Michelle and I both stood frozen with fear for about 5 minutes, until I grabbed her hand and ran back to my house. I lead her down to my basement where I knew we wouldn't be seen.

"I need to leave this town now" I said pacing.

"Don't let those Team Rocket punks scare you out of town Reef!"

"No you don't understand, I'm the reason they're here"

"What are you talking about?"

"I have to show you something but I need you to swear to keep it between us at least until I'm out of the city."

"I swear I won't tell anyone."

I released Scorch in front of her and she reacted pretty much the same way my father did. She jumped behind me and asked what it was. I kneeled down and petted Scorch and said "What does it look like".

"It looks like a black Charmander, but that's impossible, isn't it?"

"You're looking at one aren't you, that guy they were talking about dropped him in my backyard last month and I have been raising it ever since."

"Does your dad know?"

"Yeah, he said I could keep it."

"Well I guess now you have to return it to its rightful owners."

"That's Team Rocket out there they don't come by anything honestly, he's rightfully mine not theirs."

"Yea but that Charizard will burn this entire town down if they tell it to, is it really worth it?"

"That's why I'm leaving the town tonight, I'm taking him to Professor Oak, and he'll know what to do."

"So that means we're going to Pallet town huh?"

"What do you mean we?"

"Exactly what I said, we're going to Pallet Town."

"I can't bring you with me this would be too dangerous."

"Yea just like that time you couldn't let me throw rocks at that Beedrill's nest?"

"Yes, that was too dangerous too."

"You're the one that gave me the rocks!"

"Oh I forgot about that, well this time is different, this time I have to protect you."

""Okay leave me here and run off playing the hero. The only thing you need to know is that I'm horrible at keeping secrets."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I might accidently go to the team rocket guys and spoil your plan if I'm not a part of it."

"I can't believe you're blackmailing me, ok meet me back here in half an hour ready to travel.

She got really excited, kissed me on the cheek and then ran home to pack. I also ran up the stairs to pack as quickly as I could. Midway through my packing my father walked into my room.

"And where are you off to without my permission?"

"Pallet Town, I need to see Professor Oak."

"And you weren't even going to tell me about fleeing the city?"

"I was going to cal once I was out of the city safely"

"Son, you can't make these kinds of decisions alone, how do you even plan on getting out of the town?"

"I hadn't thought that part through yet, but I'll think of something."

"No, you won't. I already have a plan."

"Which is?"

"I'm gonna go and tell those Team Rocket guys that I overheard a guy bragging about his new black Charmander and how he was going to Cerulean City to train it against water types."

"That's brilliant dad, then we can leave once they are gone."

"No son you can leave, I have to stay here for at least a few more days. That way the neighbors won't realize we were fleeing the town. You can say you're starting your gym badge collection and a few days later I'll be called out of town on business."

"Then if Team Rocket comes back the neighbors wont be able to say it was us, I understand."

"Good, and good luck, I will call you in 2 hours to see how things are going for you."

Then my dad stood up took a deep breath and walked out of the house. I finished packing. I only packed a book bag full of clothes and other things. I wanted to travel light in case I was chased. When I went downstairs Michelle was already there waiting for me. I filled her in on the plan and we sat and waited for my father to come back.

He walked in the house 20 minutes later and told us to hurry. He said they had pulled the teams covering the gates and were leaving the town in a hurry. Michelle and I grabbed our bags and started toward the door, but I turned around and hugged my father as tight as I could and told him I loved him. He said it back with tears in his eyes then he rushed us out the door. We left the town without any worries our next stop was Pallet Town


	3. Chapter 3

So my father's plan had worked and we had escaped the city. Now here we were two 13 year olds all on our own. I was horrified but excited at the same time. Since turning back wasn't an option I just focused on the exciting things about our trip like the fun we would have seeing new Pokémon and training ours to become stronger. I ignored the thoughts I was having about us getting jumped by some weird gang and ending up dead on the side of the road somewhere.

"Reef look" Michelle said pulling on my arm and pointing up at a sign that said "Now entering Viridian Forest.

"Oh cool" I said struggling to breathe. I had no idea there would be a forest in our way. I was hoping it would be just a short walk through a calm meadow before we reached Pallet Town.

"Are you okay" Michelle said looking at me funny.

"I'm fine" I said avoiding her gaze.

"Are you nervous, about us being out here alone with no parents to help us out if we get in trouble?"

She was dead right but I wasn't about to admit that out loud. "No I'm fine" I said faking a smile.

"It really is okay if you are" she said as we entered the forest. There was grass as tall as me everywhere. There were trees all over the place and it was loud. Different Pokémon sounds all blending together to make a single melody of loudness. It was hard to focus on any particular sound because all the others. I did see a flock of pidgey sitting a few yards from the entrance.

'"It would be nice to catch one of those" I said.

"You should catch one. I want one of those caterpie or weedle I hear in the grass. "Michelle said and started walking through the grass.

"I guess you're right" I said and reached for a poke ball. My pocket was empty. In my rush to flee the town it never crossed my mind to grab any.

I watched as Michelle caught both the caterpie and weedle. She was really good at battling Pokémon. If I was going to keep up with her I needed to step my game up and soon. After she caught the weedle, which she named Sting, she asked me if I caught the Pidgey I wanted.

"No, I'm not really thinking about that right now, I just want to get to Professor Oak's as fast as possible" I said trying to sound believable.

"Or you just forgot to bring some Poke balls" she said with a laugh. "Here, take as many as you need." she tossed me a pouch of poke balls.

"How did you know I forgot them" I asked baffled.

"I've seen the way you pack, I knew you wouldn't have most of the things you really needed.

"Well thanks for the vote of confidence" I said.

"Honestly though Reef, you may not be the most organized person, but your passion to be a great trainer is unrivaled. I was okay with just having Volt as a pet but you made me want to be great, as great as I know you will be one day.

I felt my mouth open but no words came out. How could I respond to that? I just nodded my head slowly.

"Oh come on, don't get all sentimental on me. I was just reminding you of why you need to stop goofing around; I'm not going to go easy on you just because we're friends. Only one of us can be the greatest trainer of all time." she said and pushed me.

I thanked her for the speech and then threw Drago's poke ball at the flock of pidgey. When it opened all of the Pidgey flew away except one. It had this look on its face, a look somewhere between angry and determined. I was about to tell Drago to use wrap on the pidgey but before I could say anything the pidgey started flapping its wings really hard and kicking up a lot of dust into the air. Drago and I both just stood there trying to figure out what was going on.

"He's using sand attack, he's trying to blind Drago" Michelle finally said.

"Oh, well that's really smart, but it's not going to work. Drago wrap him up nice and tight." I said. It was too late though. Drago couldn't see a thing. He tried to dive at Pidgey and missed horribly. He ended up about a foot too far left of Pidgey. Pidgey stopped kicking up dust and quickly flew into the air. He flew about 3 feet straight up into the air then dove with incredible speed straight back down. When he was about a foot off the ground his flight path changed and he shot toward Drago like lightning. He slammed into Drago with a force so strong it sent Him sailing through air directly into the trunk of a tree.

I thought Drago was done for when he hit the tree trunk but he somehow got back up. He was wobbly and breathing heavily but standing. I fought back my urge to call him back to his ball and instead told him to use twister. Drago started rapidly moving in a circle. A mini tornado was created and moved towards Pidgey. It trapped Pidgey in itself and swung him around helplessly until its gusts died down. Once the winds stopped Pidgey plummeted to the ground in a downward spiral and landed in some tall grass with a thud.

"Now Drago let's try that wrap again" I said pointing to where Pidgey fell. Drago quickly moved forward towards Pidgey and I readied a poke ball. Then pidgey launched itself at Drago so fast I almost missed it. He slammed directly into Drago's face. Drago flipped backwards but was still moving forward. He hit the ground hard and didn't move. I called him back to his ball immediately; I just knew he had fainted. Pidgey on the other hand was still awake but just barely. I decided to just go for it and hope for the best. I threw a poke ball and Pidgey didn't even try to resist being caught. I picked up the ball and put it in my pocket.

"What are you going to name him" Michelle asked walking up to me.

"I'm thinking Talon" I said "He has the personality to pull that name off don't you think?"

"Yeah he really does, but he took a beating in that fight. Not as bad as the one Drago took but still pretty bad. We gotta get to Pallet town and get him and Drago to a Pokémon center soon."

"Yeah you're right, we gotta go before it gets dark, plus we don't know how long it will take Team Rocket to realize I'm not in Cerulean City" I answered.

We started walking faster through the forest. We would have probably been out in good time and during daylight hours if Viridian Forest wasn't an extremely confusing maze. We spent hours circling the same trees and getting lost on the same paths that led nowhere. When we did finally make it out of the forest we were exhausted and hungry. We had fought several times and weren't speaking to each other but when we saw the now leaving Viridian Forest sign we both yelled and jumped for joy. "Finally we made it to Pallet town, now things can start to get back to normal" I thought. I had never been so wrong in so many ways before in my life.


End file.
